Date: Thursday, 31st August, 2023
Title: The Deceitfulness of Riches
Text: Mark 12:41-44
Author: Pastor Adedeji Fadehan
Exhortation:
It is not a sin to be rich but it is a sin to allow your riches separate you from God. In such a situation the wealth or riches have become an idol called Mammon. It is idolatry to choose your riches above the One who provided them. You cannot serve both God and Mammon. Matthew 6:24. This is why Christ said it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Matthew 19:21-24
Riches can be deceitful. The problem with majority of the rich and wealthy is that they find it extremely difficult to remove their trust from their riches and place it on God. They allow the deceitfulness of riches, the cares of this world and the lust of many other things to enter their hearts and choke the love of God. But the word of God warns, “Though your riches increase, do not set your heart on them.” Psalm 62:10.
The fact that you are rich does not mean you are special in the eyes of God or approved by Him. And the fact that you are not rich does not indicate that you are under a curse or disapproved by God.
The poor widow in today’s text who gave only two mites (together worth a quadran, the lowest Roman coin) was more approved in the eyes of God than the rich who gave large offerings out of their abundance, because she gave her all. Mark 12:41-44
Don’t be deceived; what God requires is a heart full of love, faith and hope in Him, irrespective of your financial or social status.
The Psalmist said, “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the Lord our God. They are brought down and fallen: but we are risen, and stand upright.” Psalm 20:7-8.
Reflective Nugget: Don’t be deceived; what God requires is a heart full of love, faith and hope in Him, irrespective of your financial or social status.